Chadha brothers' fatal clash was the second that day: Cops

New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) The bloody gun battle that left liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his estranged brother Hardeep dead here Saturday came within hours of another clash between the aides of the two estranged siblings, police said Monday, after quizzing over 100 people.

"Ponty Chadha's men had earlier in the day tried to forcibly take possession of another property in Bijwasan (south Delhi). This triggered off the final clash between the two brothers," a police official said.

He said that two of Ponty's aides, Madan Rana and Vijay alias Malik, had been arrested in the first clash over a disputed property at Bijwasan that took place three hours ahead of the gun battle at a farmhouse in south Delhi's Chhattarpur Saturday.

"There was tension in the family for the couple of days before the shootout killings. Efforts were on to find a compromise," Joint Commissioner of Police Vivek Gogia told reporters.

The blood bath that occurred Nov 17 between the Chadha brothers over the issue of possession of a disputed farm No.42 situated in Chhattarpur ended in both the brothers losing their lives. One security person was injured.

Gogia said that initial investigation revealed that tension had been brewing between Ponty and Hardeep for the past couple of days before the Chhattarpur shootout.

He said the property dispute had not reached the court and their mother and community elders were trying to find an amicable solution to end the disagreements.

Gogia said police were awaiting post mortem, ballistic and forensic reports to ascertain who fired at whom.

A team of ballistic and forensic experts had collected evidence from the farmhouse that was at the centre of the controversy between the two brothers. The property is said to be worth Rs.200 crore.

Till now police have questioned 100 people, including employees, guards and personal security officers, of the Chadha brothers. "Some other people, who were also present at the disputed farm along with Ponty Chadha, have been questioned," he said.

Talking about the sequence of events Saturday, Gogia said that 30−40 men led by Ponty reached the Chhattarpur farmhouse and beat up some of Hardeep's men, took away their mobile phones and locked them up in the farmhouse. They also fired in the air.

When Hardeep, who was attending a meeting in Noida, adjoining Delhi, learnt about this he rushed to the Chhattarpur farmhouse where a heated argument erupted between the two brothers.

Police investigations also showed that when Ponty's security manager Narendra tried to intervene in the argument, an angry Hardeep opened fire.

On reaching the spot, police found Hardeep's body lying in a pool of blood while Ponty had been rushed to Fortis hospital by his men.

Eight people, including a personal security officer and driver of Ponty, and six of Hardeep's aides were at the spot.

Police also recovered two pistols from the scene which were registered in Hardeep's name.

Investigators said that they did receive an anonymous call informing them about the fight at Chhattarpur around 12.15 p.m. but confirmed that the caller was not Hardeep. They received two more calls even after the police team had reached the spot.